Las Bambas mine, located at 4,000 metres in the south of the South American country, is set to deliver 400,000 tonnes of copper per year during the first five years of production, placing it within the top three copper mines globally. (Image from archives)

The Australia-based company, controlled by China Minmetals Corp, aims to become a mid-tier base metals producer. With that goal in mind, it bought the Las Bambas project in 2014 from commodity giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) for $5.85 billion.

But the mine, which is expected to churn out over 200,000 tonnes of copper this year, and close to 400,000 tonnes in 2017, is coming online just as copper prices are trading at their lowest levels in over six years.